| |
Presented at the NABS Annual meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2002
in Wetlands I
INVERTEBRATE COLONIZATION OF NEWLY CONSTRUCTED AMPHIBIAN BREEDING PONDS IN NORTHEASTERN OHIO.
J.B. Keiper and L. Hutchison. Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106
The invertebrates that colonized seven newly constructed woodland vernal pools, built to enhance amphibian breeding, were sampled using standard 350 ml mosquito dippers during summer 2001. Twenty five taxa were obtained, with seven taxa taken commonly. Zooplankton was dominated by Daphnia pulex and undetermined Copepoda; D. pulex was abundant in May-June samples but declined as the summer progressed, whereas copepods increased throughout the summer. Culex and Anopheles mosquito larvae were taken in low density (mean <1 larva per sample) throughout the summer. The phantom midge Chaoborus americana was taken infrequently during May and June, but mean numbers increased to approximately 7 larvae per sample by August. Aquatic Coleoptera and Hemiptera were taken regularly but in low numbers throughout the summer. All of the common taxa were filter feeders or predators. Because the pools were built during winter 2001, the invertebrate community had little detritus (e.g., tree leaves) to make use of, and the FFG composition reflects this. We anticipate substantive changes in the invertebrate community during summer 2002 after a build-up of allochthonous materials within the pools as they age. The successful colonization of the pools by invertebrates indicates that an appropriate amphibian food base became established naturally.
|
|
